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Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX): Today's Featured Drugs Laggard

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (
VRTX) pushed the Drugs industry lower today making it today's featured Drugs laggard. The industry as a whole closed the day up 0.3%. By the end of trading, Vertex Pharmaceuticals fell 82 cents (-1.8%) to $45.66 on light volume. Throughout the day, 1.3 million shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 1.8 million shares. The stock ranged in price between $45.35-$46.46 after having opened the day at $46.39 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $46.48. Other companies within the Drugs industry that declined today were:
Hospira (
HSP), down 8%,
Affymax (
AFFY), down 6.9%,
Tranzyme (
TZYM), down 6.9%, and
Shire (
SHPG), down 6.7%.

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated engages in discovering, developing, manufacturing, and commercializing small molecule drugs for the treatment of serious diseases worldwide. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a market cap of $9.95 billion and is part of the health care sector. Shares are up 9.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday. Currently there are 14 analysts that rate Vertex Pharmaceuticals a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and five rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Vertex Pharmaceuticals as a
sell. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its feeble growth in its earnings per share, deteriorating net income and disappointing return on equity.